Roller construction



P 1939. G. GRAVENSTINE 2,173,298

ROLLER CONSTRUCTION Filed April 50, 1938 2 Sheets-Sheet l [N VENTORATTORNEY P 1939. e. E. GRA VENSTINE. 2,173,298

ROLLER CONSTRUCTION Filed April 30, 1958 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 g INVENTOR BYW MM! v72 A TTORNEY Patented Sept. 19, 1939 UNITED STATES ROLLER.CONSTRUCTION George E. Gravenstine, Dayton,

Ohio, assignor to The S. H. Thomson Manufacturing Company,

Dayton, Ohio, a corporation of Ohio Application April" 30, 1938', serialNo. 205,150

8 Claims.

This invention relates to hearses, ambulances or other vehicles or thelike in which itis desired that thefloor, at times, be provided withrollers projecting upwardly from the floor surface to 5 facilitate themovement of articles into orout of the vehicle body.

One object of the invention is the provision of a roller constructionthat may be incorporated in the floor of a' hearse or other vehicle, andincorporating a roller support that is adjustable to present the rollerin an operative position projecting upwardly from the fioo-r level, andarranged so that the roller may be readily moved out of its operativeposition and be replaced by a surface that will bridge the space throughwhich the'roller projected, thus presenting a substantially continuousupper surface and concealing the roller in a retracted position.

Another object of the invention is the provision 20* of a rollerconstruction in which the roller is rotatably mounted on a rollercarrier, while the roller carrier is also rotatably mounted on an axisspaced from the roller axis so that the roller may be readily retractedmerely by rotational movements of the roller carrier.

Other objects and advantages of the invention will be apparent from'thefollowing descriptions, the appended claims, and the accompanyingdrawings, inwhich:

Fig. l is a top plan View of a roller construction embodying the presentinvention;

Fig. 2 is a vertical longitudinal section taken on the line 2-2 of Fig.1;

Fig. 3 is a vertical transverse section taken on the line L t-3' of Fig.2;

4 is a view of one end of the-roller con:

'struction, showing the roller in lowered position; Fig. 5 is a sectionon the line 5-5 of Fig. 1-; Fig. 6 is a section on the line 6-6 of- Fig.4, but with the arm '39 lowered; and

Fig. 7 illustrates a portion of an ambulance or hearse with the rollerunits: mounted in position on the floor.

Inaccordance with the present invention, a hearse may be readilyconverted to be used as an ambulance, or vice versa, by so rearrangingthe floor as to provide rollers to facilitate loading anderemoval of acoffin, when the vehicle is to be used as a hearse, and by providing asubstantially flat continuous floor, by lowering the rollers andreplacing them with continuous plate portions, when the vehicle is to beused as an ambulance. Asshown in Fig. 7, l designates the floor of aconvertible hearse and ambulance II, the floor being-provided withaseries of roller units I2" which-areshown in Fig. 7 with the rollerslowered and the spaces through which the rollers may project closed bythe closure plates.

Each roller unit, as shownin Figs. 1 and? for example, comprises aroller[3 rotatably supported for movement about its own axis in a rollercarrier [4 in which itismounted by means ofsuitable pivot pins I5. Theroller carrier, which'ispreferably a, metal casting, includes end wallsIt and upper and lower plate members 10 ll and I87 respectively. Thelower plate member, which integrally connects the lower ends of the endwalls It is a flat continuous surface eX- t'ending horizontally belowthe roller when the roller isarranged in its normal operative positionwith its top projecting above the top of the plate H, which isprovidedwith an opening for that purpose. In the normal operative position ofthe roller, the upper surface of the plate 91 is substantially flushwith the top of the supporting member Zil'which forms a support for theroller carrier I41 Thesupporting member is provided with rather thinoutwardly extending plate portions 2| adapted to-overlie the floor ofthe vehicle and projecting beyond the opening in the floor in which'theroller and roller carrier are arranged. An ODSI'IiHE'ZZ iS provided inthe supporting member to receive either the roller andthe plate portionll' of the roller carrier, or thecontinuous plate portion 18. Adjacentopposite ends of the Walls l 6-of the roller carrier, the supportingmember Z G-"is provided with downwardly extendiiig arms 23; The rollercarrier Id at one end is" provided with a pivotpin 24fwhichrot'atablysupportsthe roller carrier on one of the arms 2-3, the other arm beingpivotally connected to the opposite end wall of the roller carrier bymeans off a stud 25-. The axis of pin 24 and stud' 25 are coincident,and spaced'fronithe axis of rotation of the roller; arid so associatedwith the roller carrier as to position the flat surface 58 flush withthe upper surface of the supporting member 23]" when'the' roller carrieris moved so as to arrange the'roller in a lowered position. The space orcut-out'opening in the'flo'orin which the roller carrier operatesis'closed by' a sheet metal cover 26' so as to protect the'interior ofthe vehicle against the entrance of dust and dirt, andto 'protecteitherthe roller or the fiat sur-. face I8 when" in a loweredposition. Screws2? serve to removablyf hold the pan 26 to the lower side of the floorH1.

One-arm 23 of the supporting member 20 is provided with a plurality ofholes'29' and 30 5 equally spaced on opposite sides of the stud 25. Twolock pins 3| and 32 are engageable with these holes 29 and 30 and with apair of aligned holes provided in the end wall N5 of the roller carrierwhen the roller is arranged in its normal operative position or when itis arranged in its lowered position. The pins 3| and 32 are rigidlyinterconnected by a tie bar 33 which is guided on the stud 25 and whichis normally urged to the left as viewed in Fig. 2 by means of a coilspring 36 engageable with the outer side of the bar 33 and with the nut31 provided on the end of the stud 25. This spring therefore normallyurges the pins 3| and 32 into locking position engaged with the end wallIt of the roller carrier. To move the pins to retracted position, asshown in Fig. 4, and thus permit the roller carrier to be rotated,accomplished by pushing downwardly on one side of the exposed portion ofthe roller carrier, a manually operable device is provided, accessiblefrom the top of the supporting member 20. This device includes a fingeroperated release plate 39 recessed in the member 20 with its uppersurface normally flush with the upper surface of that member, the latterbeing provided with a recess 40 so that the end of a. persons finger canbe inserted below the end of the release plate 39 and the latter tiltedupwardly into the position shown in Fig. 4 against the action of thespring 36, the plate 39 being pivotally supported on a pin 4| carried bythe supporting member 20 and having a pair of downwardly projecting arms42 which may be pressed against the bar 33 so as to push the bar towardsthe right into the position shown in Fig. 4 so that the roller carriermay then be swung into the position illustrated in that figure,presenting the fiat surface l8 uppermost and horizontal, flush with theupper surface of the supporting member 20. When the release plate 40 ispermitted to lower, the spring 36 pushes the locking pins 3| and 32 intothe two holes in the end wall 16, which are then opposite the pins, andthe roller carrier is thus securely held in position so that the fiatsurface [8 forms part of the substantially horizontal floor over which awheeled cot may be rolled without bumping the occupant and thus adaptingthe vehicle for use as an ambulance. To again adapt the same vehicle foruse as a hearse or for some other purposes where the rollers are to beused, it is merely necessary to pull upwardly on the release plates 39of the different units and turn the rollers so as to bring them up intooperative positions, where they project above the surface of thesupporting members 2D and thus form rotatable carriers over which acoffin or other heavy object may be rolled.

To provide a symmetrical appearance to the top of the supporting member20, a depression 44 and grooves 45 are provided in the upper surface ofthe member, of symmetrical outline corresponding to the appearance ofthe groove 40 and the release plate 39 at the other end of thesupporting member, as shown in Fig. 1.

While the form of apparatus herein described constitutes a preferredembodiment of the invention, it is to be understood that the inventionis not limited to this precise form of apparatus, and that changes maybe made therein without departing from the scope of the invention whichis defined in the appended claims.

What is claimed is:

1. A roller construction for a vehicle of the character describedcomprising a supporting.

member adapted for connection to the vehicle floor and having a rollerreceiving opening, a roller carrier having a flat surface adapted to bepositioned in said opening substantially flush with the top of saidsupporting member, and a roller in spaced relation with respect to saidfiat surface rotatably mounted on said roller carrier and adapted forpositioning in said opening to project substantially above the top ofsaid supporting member.

2. A roller construction for a vehicle of the character describedcomprising a supporting member having a roller receiving opening, aroller carrier pivotally supported on said supporting member and havinga fiat surface adapted to be positioned in said opening substantiallyflush with the top of said supporting member, a roller rotatably mountedon said roller carrier and adapted to project in said openingsubstantially above the top of said supporting member, and means forholding said roller carrier with either the flat surface or the rolleruppermost.

3. A roller construction for a vehicle of the character describedcomprising a supporting member, a roller carrier pivotally supported onsaid supporting member and having a flat surface adapted to bepositioned substantially flush with the top of said supporting member, aroller rotatably mounted on said roller carrier and adapted to projectsubstantially above the top of said supporting member, means for holdingsaid roller carrier with either the flat surface or the rolleruppermost, and means normally recessed in the top of said supportingmember for operating said holding means.

4. A roller construction for a vehicle comprising a supporting memberadapted for connection to the vehicle floor and having a rollerreceiving opening, a roller carrier having a flat surface adapted to bepositioned in said opening substantially flush with the top of saidsupporting member, a roller, means rotatably mounting said roller onsaid roller carrier so that the roller projects above the top of thesupporting member in one position of the roller carrier, said rollercarrier being rotatable to present said fiat surface uppermost and lowersaid roller.

5. A roller construction comprising a support-v ing member adapted forconnection to the floor of a vehicle and having a roller receivingopening, a roller carrier rotatably supported on said supporting memberfor movement on a substantially horizontal axis, said roller carrierhaving a continuous surface substantially coextensive with said openingand adapted to fill the opening in one position of the roller carrier,and a roller rotatably mounted on said roller carrier and adapted in oneposition of the roller carrier to project substantially above the top ofsaid supporting member. 7

6. A roller construction comprising a supporting member adapted forconnection to the floor of a vehicle and having a roller receivingopening, a roller carrier rotatably supported on said supporting memberfor movement on a substantially horizontal axis, said roller carrierhaving a continuous surface substantially coextensive with said openingand adapted to fill the opening in one position of the roller carrier, aroller rotatably mounted on said roller carrier and adapted in oneposition of the roller carrier to project substantially above the top ofsaid supporting member, locating holes in said roller carrier equallyspaced from the axis of rotation of the roller carrier, and releasablelocking means carried by said supporting member and engageable with saidholes.

7. A roller construction of the character described comprising asupporting member adapted for connection to a vehicle floor and having aroller receiving opening, a roller carrier having a continuous surfaceadapted to be positioned substantially flush with the top of saidsupporting member and substantially fill said opening, means adjustablysupporting said roller carrier on said supporting member, a rollerrotatably mounted on said roller carrier and adapted in one position ofthe adjustment of the roller carrier to project upwardly through theopening in the supporting member, locking means for securing said rollercarrier in a plurality of adjusted positions with either the roller orthe continuous surface presented in said opening,

and means carried by said supporting member for releasing said lockingmeans.

8. A roller construction comprising a supporting member having a rollerreceiving opening, a roller carrier pivotally supported on saidsupporting member, a roller rotatably mounted on said roller carrier onan axis spaced from the axis of rotation of the roller carrier andadapted to project through said opening in one position of the rollercarrier, said roller carrier having a flat surface adapted tosubstantially fill said opening, means for locking said roller carrierin a plurality of positions on said supporting member with either theroller or said flat surface presented in said opening, and meansaccessible at the top of said supporting member for operating saidlocking means.

GEORGE E. GRAVENSTINE.

